The semi-weekly fisherman & farmer. [volume] (Edenton, N.C.) 1886-1887, 1887-09-16
AGRICULTURAL.
TOPICS OF INTEREST RELATIVE
TO FARM AND GARDEN.
Points on Sheep.


y7eT. the most tender, as well as the most
dependent animal on the farm, is the most
Neglected. 1t appears to be the general
opinion that any kind of land is good
enough for a sheep pasture. Many seem
to think that the land they occupy is not
well adapted TO sheep because it pro-
duces good crops of grass, and is free
from stones, stumps and bushes If they
keep any sheep it is for the purpose of
utilizing some land that is too rocky and
barren to produce paying crops that re-
duire cultivation, and which is of little
value for pasturing cattle and horses.
Few persons think it is necessary or even
advisable to improve a sheep pasture
They believe that these animals can
"pick up living" on lands where any
kinds of vegetation grow. How to keep
sheep without any cost is problem that
many persons have been trying to solve.
Volumes have been written to prove that
sheep will live months without water,
providing they are in a region where
there are heavy dews. Every few
months some one brushes into print" to
declare that sheep will live for years
without salt The straw of wheat, bar
lev. rye and fax is thought to be good
enough food for sheep during the win
remain IN a rocky pasture till the frost
kills and the snow covers the grass, and
then return them to this place early in the
spring for fear that the hay will not
Fhold OUT for the cattle and horses.
During all the year they complain that
E'the bottom has fallen OUT of the wool
business.
Catching a sheep is performed in va
rious ways. The old shepherds crook is
now seldom employed for this purpose,
says the London Lige Stock Journal, and
the less the better. They will almost in
variably kick and twist sufficient to hurt
themselves. There is no better way of
catching a sheep than by putting the
modern crook around its neck. When
they are caught by the hand the skin
should be included in the handful. If
they are caught by the wool merely it is
sure to pull out, and the sheep get away.
In catching them by hand the neck is the
best place to grip, and catching them by
the ribs or the hinder parts should never
be allowed
1t pays to provide clover hay for
sheep, in the opinion of Colonel Curtis,
expressed in the New York Tribune.
A sheep, unlike horse or cow, cannot
subsist entirely on grain; they lose
dppCCIIC dLIO DIN IL AOOt IOO
grain. And another thing must not be
forgotten-they must be fed evenly as to
time and quantity. When sheep have
clover hay they will not have stretches,
as the clover keeps the bowels from be-
coming constipated; and for the same
reason they do not need linseed meal,
which they should always have if fed on
timothy hay. This does not agree with
sheep, and should always be fed in con-
nection with roots or linseed meal, to
offset its constipating effect.
I l do not wonder, says one in Farm and
Home, at the farmers failure as a wool
grower when we consider his education
upon the subject. Sheep will live on very
rough food and endure great deal OF
exposure, and certainly they get about
all they can stand of both at the hands
of the common farmer. Upon the other
hand no animal will respond more freely
to kind treatment and good care than
sheep. But neglect seems to be the great
drawback to the farmer as a wool-grow-
er; and because sheep fail to give re-
turns under such treatment they are pro-
nounced unworthy. A few extra dollars
placed in a good buck will be returned
greatly multiplied in the enhanced value
of the lambs. No man can afford to dis
regard the quality of the buck he uses.
My experience with sheep has taught me
that they are profitable; where farmers
size their f1ocks according to their farms
and facilities for caring for them they
cannot fail TO reap reasonable rewards.